Carlson pouring on offense for Redbirds

Dylan Carlson is playing like a man who knows he's a phone call away from the Majors.
The second-ranked St. Louis prospect notched his third straight three-hit game, plating two runs and scoring twice, to help Triple-A Memphis rally past Round Rock, 5-4, on Wednesday night at AutoZone Park.

The 20-year-old has hit safely in all seven games he's played in since his promotion to the Redbirds on Aug. 15, including five consecutive multi-hit efforts. 
"He's a heady kid," Memphis manager Ben Johnson told the Daily Memphian. "Not only does he have the tool set, he asks good questions. And if you ask him a question, there's an actual thought process to his answer: 'Hey, I didn't do this because I saw the on-deck hitter was our pitcher.' Well, great thinking then as opposed to, 'I don't know.'"
Carlson beat out an infield single to shortstop and scored the game's first run on John Nogowski's sacrifice fly in the opening frame. He lined a base hit up the middle in the third for his eighth multi-hit performance in 11 games going back to Aug. 10 with Springfield. After striking out swinging in his third at-bat, Carlson ignited the Redbirds' eighth-inning rally with a two-RBI single to left and scored on a go-ahead homer by Adolis Garcia.
Gameday box score
Carlson's meteoric rise from intriguing talent to MLB.com's No. 50 overall prospect began with Double-A Springfield this season. The Elk Grove, California, native batted .281/.364/.518 with 51 extra-base hits -- including a career-high 21 homers -- 81 runs, 52 RBIs and 18 stolen bases in 108 Texas League games. He was named to the circuit's midseason All-Star Game and participated in the All-Star Futures Game in Cleveland.
His introduction to the PCL has been even better. Much like top Dodgers prospect Gavin Lux with Oklahoma City, Carlson has been a near impossible out for opposing Triple-A pitchers. The Cardinals' 2016 first-round pick is batting .552/.606/.931 with six extra-base hits, six RBIs and eight runs with Memphis.

Jesus Cruz (6-6) issued a walk in a scoreless inning to earn the win in relief of Cardinals No. 15 prospect Jake Woodford. The 22-year-old was charged with four runs on seven hits and a walk with four strikeouts in seven frames. Mike Mayers fanned two while working around a walk and a single in the ninth to record his fourth save.
Sixth-ranked Astros prospectAbraham Toro, Drew Ferguson and De Goti went deep for the Express.
Round Rock's Kent Emanuel (7-2) surrendered five runs on eight hits over a season-high 7 2/3 innings. The left-hander didn't issue a walk and struck out three.